Refugee Crisis in Syria and Iraq

World Vision is serving children and families displaced by the brutal fighting in Syria and violence in Iraq, as they find refuge in neighboring areas and countries. Resources and staff interviews are available.

Chris Palusky

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To mark the three-year anniversary of the conflict in Syria, World Vision invited children living as refugees to write a report to share their biggest concerns and propose solutions to end the suffering.

Member CEOs of InterAction, the largest alliance of U.S.-based international relief and development organizations, wish to express our deep concern for the families of the Syrian Arab Republic as the war enters its fourth year with no end in sight.

2014 was a particularly harsh year for children, says UNICEF, which noted in a recent report that nearly 230 million children live in countries affected by war. Here are the top crises of 2014 that we will continue to watch in 2015.

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The human tragedy of the Syria crisis is incomprehensible, because for every adult, every child affected ... there is a face, a heart, a loss, a dream, a story. This report summarizes World Vision’s involvement in supporting children, parents and families affected by the Syria crisis. It tells not a story of resolution, but of respite. It recounts our efforts to mitigate some of the worst effects of this crisis.

World Vision is one of the world’s largest Christian humanitarian organizations, and is currently working to provide displaced Iraqis with food, water, sanitation, shelter and safety. World Vision currently has teams on the ground in Iraq, assisting religious minorities and those effected by the violence who were forced to flee their homes.

As the Syrian conflict nears its fourth year, the situation for children affected by the crisis is becoming unbearable. Thousands of children have been killed, and millions more have been displaced. More than 4.3 million of these children remain in Syria, while more than 1.2 million have fled into neighboring countries, including Lebanon and Jordan.

Every day the crisis in Syria is prolonged, the pain endured by innocent families grows – leaving deep scars that are likely to disfigure the Middle East and beyond for years to come. Most affected of all are Syria’s children: more than 5 million young lives are at risk of becoming a “lost generation.”This paper focuses on the havoc being wreaked on these children’s hopes of an education – and the likely consequences for the region’s future.

"Before the war started, nothing worried me. Then our home got bombed," says Sara, 14, from Damascus, who now lives in a cardboard shack with 14 relatives in a border refugee camp in Lebanon. She shares her memories of her father, who was killed in 2012. A photo album and a watch he gave her are all she now has to remember him by. World Vision provides water to the camps and education – a catchup school, which Sara attends – as well as psychosocial support

A coalition of 16 international humanitarian organizations welcome today’s unanimous statement of the UN Security Council calling on all parties to the conflict in Syria to facilitate safe and unhindered humanitarian access to all civilians in need throughout the country.

It can be tough not to despair in the face of the relentlessly awful news pouring out of Iraq — ethnic cleansing, widespread persecution of Muslims, Christians, and Yazidis, a tyrannical government that may not be replaced anytime soon. But despair leads only to inaction. World Vision is preparing a response to help those who’ve been forced to abandon their homes, including providing food, water, shelter, and health care.